Q2 2013: Signs of a Continuing, but Slow Recovery

Wages across Canada's six major metros show increases across the board. Where lagging wages in the mining, oil and gas exploration industry in the United States seemed to affect cities heavily tied to this field, Canada saw no such decreases.

Edmonton, an oil town, claimed the top spot for annual wage growth amongst the Canadian metros with 4.4 percent.

Montreal came in second for annual wage growth with 3.4 percent and, as of this quarter, no longer has the worst wage growth since 2006. This quarter, it rose above Toronto (9.3 percent vs. 8.2 percent).

Vancouver experienced the largest quarterly wage growth with 1.3 percent and, for the first time, saw wage growth rise above the Canadian national index.

Toronto and Ottawa tied for last place, but each still reported wages with a 2.0 percent year-over-year rise.

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Methodology for The PayScale Index: Trends in Compensation

The PayScale Index tracks quarterly changes in total cash compensation for full-time, private industry employees in the United States. In addition to a national index, it includes separate indices for specific industries, metropolitan areas, job categories, and company sizes. The PayScale Index uses 2006 average total cash compensation as a baseline.